SEOUL -- The South Korean Health Ministry on Monday reported two more deaths from the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), along with five new cases that have taken the total number of people diagnosed in the country to 150.
According to the ministry, one of the deceased was a 58-year-old who had diabetes and the other was a 61-year-old with unknown medical history. So far, the number of MERS-related deaths in South Korea has reached 16.
Meanwhile, the ministry said that 17 of those 150 diagnosed were currently in unstable condition.
Nearly all infections have occurred at hospitals that had unknowingly treated MERS patients, the ministry said.
South Korea has isolated those who have had close contacts with MERS patients since the first case was found on May 20.
The Prime Minister's Office also announced Monday it will dispatch an inspection team to Samsung Hospital, where over 70 MERS cases emerged in the past weeks.
The hospital, located in southern Seoul, has already suspended part of its services for fear of further spread of the MERS, a respiratory illness first detected in Saudi Arabia in 2012.
The 13-member inspection team will probe into possible human or technical errors in the hospital that caused the outbreak. It will also help experts already deployed there to form a thorough disease control plan.
The city government in Seoul has also provided emergency financial aid to elementary schools and kindergartens to help contain the spread of the MERS.
It has earmarked 400 million won (about 360,000 U.S. dollars) for building sterilization and 1.5 billion won (about 1.35 million dollars) for the purchase of thermometers.
The MERS outbreak has already taken a toll on the country's economy.
Retain sales fell in the first week of June compared with a month earlier and credit card payment was down 5.5 percent earlier this month compared with the same period last month, South Korean Finance Minister Choi Kyung-hwan told lawmakers on Monday, according to a report by Yonhap.
The tourism and leisure industries were the hardest hit, the Yonhap report quoted Choi as saying.
There is need to guard against excessive anxiety and to limit the economic fallouts, Choi added.
The South Korean central bank cut its policy rate Thursday to an all-time low of 1.5 percent in case that the unabated MERS may erode the already lackluster economy.
The MERS outbreak also appears to be behind a life-style change in the country: more South Koreans are buying groceries online so as to avoid trips to shops and supermarkets.
The three leading grocers in South Korea, namely E-Mart, Home Plus and Lotte Mart, all recorded substantial increase in online sales since the outbreak began.
E-mart saw its online sales soar 63.1 percent between June 1 and June 11, compared with the same period a year earlier. The number of orders also jumped 51.9 percent.
Home Plus reported a 48.1-percent increase in online sales and a 37.5-percent rise in terms of order value. Lotte Mart saw its online sales grow 26.8 percent compared with a 10-percent sales slump at actual shops.
And away from South Korea, cautionary measures are also being taken against the MERS virus.
Slovakia on Saturday hospitalized a 38-year-old South Korean citizen who was suspected to have been infected. But local authorities said Sunday three out of four tests were negative for the virus and the suspected patient will undergo further tests.
As a populous neighboring country of South Korea, China has also acted to in the past week to prevent MERS infections.
Medical institutions have been asked to "strengthen monitoring of fever and pneumonia cases with unidentified causes in order to detect, diagnose and isolate MERS patients as early as possible."
China's quarantine and inspection, health and tourism authorities also renewed a joint circular to prevent MERS cases from entering the country.
China's civil aviation regulator has also ordered all airline companies to strengthen prevention and control of the MERS for flights between China and South Korea.
